Recently a friend asked me why I love shooting family portrait experiences so much. I hadn’t been asked that before and it got me thinking… and when I think I blog!
1: It’s a fun family activity for everyone.
At the moment there is a lot of stress, anxiety and fear going around, what is the antidote for that? Laughter! I can’t remember a session where there wasn’t a bundle of laughs from everyone. And if you are lucky you might see my magic trick!
2 You can show your kids how important they are.There are experts out there that say that children who live in houses with family portraits on the wall children that grow up with family portraits on the wall have higher self confidence.
Even without that gem of knowledge, subconsciously having photos of kids being themselves help them connect with who they are, even when they grow up. It’s why my sessions are focused around who everyone is in the family, just just smiling at the camera.
3: You have more than one child but only one has all the photos on the wall!
It is pretty common situation… the first baby comes along and it’s madness with the photos, you even have time to get them up on the wall! Then the second child comes along and there are less photos of them, if any. Many parents come to me when their second child is 4/5 and say that it’s time to get their whole family on the wall because they notice!
If your second (or third) child isn’t on the wall, and you aren’t going to send him/her back for a refund, it’s time to include them in your family portraits.
We even have a special prescription that deals with this problem – click here to find out about it.
4: Gifts for the oldies.
Portrait gifts are always appreciated by the grandparents.
In a recent study i just completed with the grandmother of my kids, the next best thing from having the grandkids in her house, is having a professional photo of them in their house.
Remember, gift giving doesn’t have to be for just birthdays or Christmas, the surprise presents are often the best. (Maybe give the gift and also leave the kids there for the night? double win!)
5: Time to brighten up your home
We spend a heap of time at home, and it seems that is increasing by the hour at the moment. Why not brighten up your room with your own custom artwork that has a wall meaning for you, then in 20 years time will still make you smile.
6 You are always behind the camera.
Here is an example of conversations I have with about 80% of phone enquires I get:
Me: What would you love to see in your photos?
Mum: Me, i’m not in any photos because i’m the one taking it. It would be great to have more than a selfie for my kids to look back on in the future!
Me: You sound like 80% of the enquires I get!
You should exist in the photos with your kids, trust me in 10, 20, 50 years from now that aren’t going to be looking at the insecurities you may have with yourself. They will be looking at the lady who is their mother, the one who loved them, looked after them, played with them and everything else mums are awesome at doing.
7 Life happens.
You never know what is around the corner, and I know it’s not a nice thing to think about but at this moment we all have it in the back of our minds. Last year I had so many enquiries from kids who needed urgent portraits taken because their parents/kids were sick. Don’t’ leave it to a disaster to strike to get into action.
